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Art & Science, 2018

Art & Science, 2018

Lessons on Making Music for Film
During the Academy’s Careers in Film Summit, a day dedicated to students
interested in working in the industry, one panel brought together a range
of musicians to share their experiences and answer questions for the
uninitiated. Questions like: what does a music supervisor do? Moderator
Mike Muse shared the stage with music editor Jordan Corngold, composer-songwriters
Germaine Franco, Justin Hurwitz and Trent Reznor, music
supervisor Morgan Rhodes and songwriter Taura Stinson. Over the course
of the hour, these are some things we learned.
. . .
Don’t be afraid to change mediums
or genres.
Taura Stinson began her career in an Oakland-based girl group. She
wrote songs for pop and R&B artists, worked as Paris Hilton’s assistant
and contributed to the “Men in Black” soundtrack. That job encouraged
her to narrow her focus. “When I decided that I wanted to be a
songwriter in film, I knew that the biggest thing was going to be to just
expand my knowledge of music.” Since then, Stinson has worked on
everything from Black Nativity to Rio 2.
Conductor’s score for “A Streetcar Named Desire”
The Academy
We are The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and we champion the power of human
imagination.
Jan 8  5 min read
Trent Reznor, founder of the rock band Nine Inch Nails, hadn’t
composed for a film before David Fincher approached him to work on
The Social Network. “I knew nothing about the process or how it
worked.” And the subject of the movie prompted a concern:
“What does a film sound like that’s about some
unlikable characters in dorm rooms creating a
social network?”
Through the process, he (along with writing partner Atticus Ross)
learned to inhabit the characters and write instinctually. He also
discovered similarities to his day job.
“My job as a writer of songs, usually, was to start with an idea or a lyrical
idea and then try to arrange music to fit that idea,” he said. “And that
wasn’t that different from what this is: replace my lyrics with the script
and try to get inside David Fincher’s head to figure out what he was
trying to articulate and what he wanted music to do.”
Morgan Rhodes and Taura Stinson
As a music supervisor, Morgan Rhodes comes in at the script phase,
making notes in the margins about what certain lines or moments feel
like. “You are responsible for helping to carry that narrative sonically,”
she said of the job. Rhodes, who is also a DJ and record collector,
listened to 3,000 songs while working on Selma. She then pared it
down to 300, which eventually became 13.
She discussed one scene in particular, where the crowd solemnly
crosses the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Silence was crucial because “I
wanted it to feel like a prayer,” she said. “I wanted it to feel like a
meditation.” The music complemented this mood. “I also wanted
something that was true to the times… I wanted something that was
precious to the movement.” She used a lot of B-side tracks to keep the
audience from recalling songs they already knew.
A traditional music background isn’t
necessary—but in some cases, it helps.
“Some music editors are trained from a musical background. I wasn’t,”
said Jordan Corngold, music editor on Bridge of Spies. “My training
came from being a theater director. I learned to speak ‘director’ more
than to speak ‘music.’ But everyone has their feeling about music.”
La La Land composer-songwriter Justin Hurwitz, who had a traditional
music education, agrees. “I would say it’s very, very helpful to have, but
I find one of my biggest challenges is letting go of all of that and not
Justin Hurwitz, Trent Reznor and Morgan Rhodes
feeling like a slave to ‘five has to go to one’ and ‘parallel fifths are
always bad’.”
While Hurwitz relied on his formal training for La La Land, he admitted
that so many types of music completely disregard this method.
“Be aware that the rules don’t always apply.”
Making music for film is a collaborative
process.
Germaine Franco wrote the score for Dope in about a month. Working
with Pharell, she took themes from his songs for the film and expanded
them into a score. As a composer, she said, “your job is to find the tone
of the film. What is the tone that the filmmaker wants to project
through music?”
Corngold’s role calls for an understanding of both the composer and
director’s visions. He recalled an early meeting with Bridge of Spies
director Steven Spielberg and composer Thomas Newman. “A lot of
what a music editor does is listen and collect information about that
creative process, about the collaboration that’s going on between the
composer and director.”
Germaine Franco, Justin Hurwitz and Trent Reznor
“I’m a facilitator and a communicator and also kind
of a translator… When [the director] says, ‘Make it
hot,’ what does he mean? How does that translate
musically?”
Usually, Corngold said, the music editor is hired before the composer.
His or her first task is to create a temp score, which serves as “a good
communication tool for the composer.” Once the temp score is
completed, the editor supports the composer, facilitating workflow and
communicating changes: “the picture’s constantly changing while
they’re writing.”
. . .
Watch the complete panel, and others from the Academy’s Careers in Film
Summit, HERE.
Jordan Corngold and Germaine Franco

Lessons on Making Music for Film
During the Academy’s Careers in Film Summit, a day dedicated to students
interested in working in the industry, one panel brought together a range
of musicians to share their experiences and answer questions for the
uninitiated. Questions like: what does a music supervisor do? Moderator
Mike Muse shared the stage with music editor Jordan Corngold, composer-songwriters
Germaine Franco, Justin Hurwitz and Trent Reznor, music
supervisor Morgan Rhodes and songwriter Taura Stinson. Over the course
of the hour, these are some things we learned.
. . .
Don’t be afraid to change mediums
or genres.
Taura Stinson began her career in an Oakland-based girl group. She
wrote songs for pop and R&B artists, worked as Paris Hilton’s assistant
and contributed to the “Men in Black” soundtrack. That job encouraged
her to narrow her focus. “When I decided that I wanted to be a
songwriter in film, I knew that the biggest thing was going to be to just
expand my knowledge of music.” Since then, Stinson has worked on
everything from Black Nativity to Rio 2.
Conductor’s score for “A Streetcar Named Desire”
The Academy
We are The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and we champion the power of human
imagination.
Jan 8  5 min read
Trent Reznor, founder of the rock band Nine Inch Nails, hadn’t
composed for a film before David Fincher approached him to work on
The Social Network. “I knew nothing about the process or how it
worked.” And the subject of the movie prompted a concern:
“What does a film sound like that’s about some
unlikable characters in dorm rooms creating a
social network?”
Through the process, he (along with writing partner Atticus Ross)
learned to inhabit the characters and write instinctually. He also
discovered similarities to his day job.
“My job as a writer of songs, usually, was to start with an idea or a lyrical
idea and then try to arrange music to fit that idea,” he said. “And that
wasn’t that different from what this is: replace my lyrics with the script
and try to get inside David Fincher’s head to figure out what he was
trying to articulate and what he wanted music to do.”
Morgan Rhodes and Taura Stinson
As a music supervisor, Morgan Rhodes comes in at the script phase,
making notes in the margins about what certain lines or moments feel
like. “You are responsible for helping to carry that narrative sonically,”
she said of the job. Rhodes, who is also a DJ and record collector,
listened to 3,000 songs while working on Selma. She then pared it
down to 300, which eventually became 13.
She discussed one scene in particular, where the crowd solemnly
crosses the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Silence was crucial because “I
wanted it to feel like a prayer,” she said. “I wanted it to feel like a
meditation.” The music complemented this mood. “I also wanted
something that was true to the times… I wanted something that was
precious to the movement.” She used a lot of B-side tracks to keep the
audience from recalling songs they already knew.
A traditional music background isn’t
necessary—but in some cases, it helps.
“Some music editors are trained from a musical background. I wasn’t,”
said Jordan Corngold, music editor on Bridge of Spies. “My training
came from being a theater director. I learned to speak ‘director’ more
than to speak ‘music.’ But everyone has their feeling about music.”
La La Land composer-songwriter Justin Hurwitz, who had a traditional
music education, agrees. “I would say it’s very, very helpful to have, but
I find one of my biggest challenges is letting go of all of that and not
Justin Hurwitz, Trent Reznor and Morgan Rhodes
feeling like a slave to ‘five has to go to one’ and ‘parallel fifths are
always bad’.”
While Hurwitz relied on his formal training for La La Land, he admitted
that so many types of music completely disregard this method.
“Be aware that the rules don’t always apply.”
Making music for film is a collaborative
process.
Germaine Franco wrote the score for Dope in about a month. Working
with Pharell, she took themes from his songs for the film and expanded
them into a score. As a composer, she said, “your job is to find the tone
of the film. What is the tone that the filmmaker wants to project
through music?”
Corngold’s role calls for an understanding of both the composer and
director’s visions. He recalled an early meeting with Bridge of Spies
director Steven Spielberg and composer Thomas Newman. “A lot of
what a music editor does is listen and collect information about that
creative process, about the collaboration that’s going on between the
composer and director.”
Germaine Franco, Justin Hurwitz and Trent Reznor
“I’m a facilitator and a communicator and also kind
of a translator… When [the director] says, ‘Make it
hot,’ what does he mean? How does that translate
musically?”
Usually, Corngold said, the music editor is hired before the composer.
His or her first task is to create a temp score, which serves as “a good
communication tool for the composer.” Once the temp score is
completed, the editor supports the composer, facilitating workflow and
communicating changes: “the picture’s constantly changing while
they’re writing.”
. . .
Watch the complete panel, and others from the Academy’s Careers in Film
Summit, HERE.
Jordan Corngold and Germaine Franco